My Five #209

Five things worth sharing from the last week or so, brought to you by a different member of the Browser Media team every Friday.

This week’s My Five is by Will.

1. #BounceBounce

With the days getting colder, the nights getting darker, and Christmas just around the corner, it can only mean one thing – time for the John Lewis Christmas advert. This is one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the festive period, and this year is no different.

The department store began to leak ten second teaser trailers earlier in the week using the Twitter handle @bouncing2016. Most people soon worked out that these videos were in some way linked to this year’s John Lewis Christmas advert, and it seems they were right. On Wednesday morning John Lewis revealed Buster the Boxer as the face of Christmas 2016, and like most years the advert had a mixed reception from the public. However, it’s safe to say it’s definitely better than last year’s “Man on the Moon”.

One man who is definitely not a fan of the annual spectacle is poor @johnlewis, an American computer science lecturer who now has to spend his time replying to tweets about a department store in a completely different country.

2. US Election

If you have been living in a cave for the past week, you may not know there has been quite a large event taking place in America. This week marked the conclusion of the 2016 American election and I think it’s fair to say not everyone was happy with the result.

As is the case with most breaking news stories, my favourite place to watch the whole thing unfold is social media, and the US election was no different. As I scrolled through the mass of newfound ‘political experts’ and memes of both candidates, one thing that grabbed my eye was the sheer ‘genius’ or complete luck of the writers of The Simpsons who managed to predict the outcome 16 years ago.

In an episode that was first aired in 2000, there is a scene where the characters are in the Oval Office discussing the state of America after President Trump. Was this just a freak coincidence or a moment of genius by ‘psychic’ producer Matt Groening? No matter what you decide, you have to admit it’s still very strange.

3. Toblerone

With the US Presidential Election rounding up on Wednesday there was more devastating news breaking a bit closer to home.

On Tuesday, Toblerone announced changes to the shape and size its infamous chocolate bar, a move that clearly upset a lot of customers. The overall weight of the bar has been reduced by increasing the size of the gaps between each piece.

Mondelez International, the company that produces Toblerone, has made these changes as it wanted the chocolate bar to remain affordable despite the rise in the price of ingredients, stating “like many other companies, we are experiencing higher costs for numerous ingredients”

In my opinion, the change is not the greatest, after all who wants less chocolate? But as long as they still taste as good as ever, I’m sure we can live with it.

4. Mannequin Challenge

Another week and another unusual craze is taking social media by storm – step forward the “Mannequin Challenge”. Like most social media crazes this ‘challenge’ is very strange, but I have to admit having watched a few, I find it oddly satisfying. If you’re not sure what the Mannequin Challenge is imagine the polar opposite of the beloved Harlem Shake. The idea is for a group of people to hold a pose and stay completely still, like mannequins, while someone films the whole thing. Like I said it’s a very unusual but it’s proven to be extremely popular on social media.

Still not convinced then take a look at some of the best sportsmen in the world absolutely smash it:

5. Remembrance Sunday

Each year, November 11 marks the date where the country falls silent for a moment to remember the fallen service men and women killed in conflict. The Poppy Appeal is the biggest fundraising campaign set up by the Royal British Legion, which involves the distribution of the iconic paper poppies to help raise vital funds to aid the Armed Forces community. This year the Royal British Legion are asking you to Rethink Remembrance Day by asking you to consider the sacrifice made by today’s generation of the armed forces as well as past generations.